Sharon Keogan Demands Minister Explain Problematic Return Scheme
Sharon Keogan called for a debate with the minister over failures in the return scheme, alleging most collected plastics are exported and that unreturned containers are creating financial distortions. She urged the minister to explain why recycling is not taking place in Ireland and how extra profits from the scheme will be used.
Call for ministerial debate
Keogan demanded that the minister of the environment attend a debate to discuss the "big problems" she sees with the return scheme and to answer detailed questions on recycling operations and scheme finances.
Allegations of exports and domestic processing failures
Keogan said it turns out that 90% of the plastics collected have been shipped overseas because it is not worth processing them in Ireland, raising concerns about the effectiveness of domestic recycling.
Return rates and financial implications
She stated that in 2024 an estimated 1.7 billion cans and bottles were sold but only about 900 million were returned, leaving roughly 800 million unreturned. Keogan argued that unreturned cans and bottles still receive a 20 cent per item bonus on year-end balance sheets and said the scheme "pockets all the money" from those items.
Consumer cost concerns and requests for clarity
Keogan warned that consumers already pay for recycling bins and said the current situation feels like a double tax. She asked the minister to explain why plastics cannot be recycled in Ireland and what will happen to the extra profits generated by the return scheme.
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I would like to call for a debate with the Minister of the Environment, Darrell O'Brien, to come in and talk to us about the big problems that we are seeing with the return scheme. It turns out that 90% of the plastics collected have been shipped overseas because it is just not worth to process them here. In 2024, it is estimated that we sold 1.7 billion cans and bottles, but only about 900 million have been returned. That leaves 800 million cans not returned, but they still get a 20 cent per can or bottle bonus on their year-end balance sheets. This feels like another sneaky tax since the return scheme pockets all the money from the cans and the bottles that did not get returned. So we need the Minister in here to explain why we cannot recycle these plastics in Ireland and what all the extra profits are going to be used for from the return scheme. Consumers already are paying for recycling bins, so this feels like consumers are getting hit with a double tax. Thank you. Thank you.
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